SupplySide West 2024: Prova’s chocolate sourcing in focus, flavors and abundant application opportunities

Deforestation, health and education were highlighted at SupplySide West in Las Vegas, US. Speaking to Food Ingredients First from the show, Muriel Acat, president and CEO at Prova, says that although vanilla is “part of the company’s DNA,” adding chocolate to its portfolio is an essential area for the company.

“These are the two legs of our business. We’ve always quantified ourselves as extracting specialists, and recently, have shifted more to flavors,” Acat notes.

She also comments on how unstable the vanilla market is, particularly in Madagascar. “The prices are getting very low, which means the market is suffering; sometimes the price levels and quality are unsustainable.” 

“We decided to commit to several farmer association groups as we have ambitions to be more involved in sustainable sourcing with Madagascar. That’s why we have developed this partnership with one of our key suppliers, to work together with the farmers and those villages where we develop social programs to help support their quality of living and pay them fairer prices.”

The program is certified by the Fairtrade Rainforest Alliance, Acat tells us. 

Growing more sustainably 

Looking ahead and commenting on the company’s future goals, Acat says Prova’s “ambition is to grow more in its sustainability programs.”

“Of course, we expect to grow in this market, and I love the US market,” she continues. “It’s a huge playground. There are a lot of opportunities there for chocolate flavors and innovation.”

Acat also expresses great hope and emphasis on improving sustainable sourcing.

Prova presented its coffee extracts including innovative syrups that Prova is using to build coffee beverages.“Our objective is to sustainably source 100% local ingredients that we will use for our extracts. We want to say the same for vanilla seven years from now, too,” she adds.  

“This is our call for our customers to evolve. This will help us better source and use more sustainable raw materials,” she explains. 

Applications in chocolate & coffee

Justin Demers, director of applications at Prova, also speaks with us. 

“We are showcasing our sustainable extracts. We then take those and build flavor off them; the extracts become the base of some of our flavors and we’re showcasing many of those.”

The company also has some of its coffee extracts highlighted in beverage form, including some fun, innovative syrups that Prova is using to build coffee beverages, including cold foams and whipped creams.

“We are highlighting our bakery products with a cheesecake and some madeleines as well as gummies and confectionery products. Here at SupplySide West, there are many functional ingredients and many things that need help with flavor, work and masking. And that’s what we’re showing. Everything in our portfolio is about sustainability and innovation.”

With additional reporting by William Bradford Nichols, from Las Vegas